Beginner 10EE Questions

[EverydayDiesel]

Hello,

I just got a new lathe, my first lathe actually which is a 1942 (round dial) 10ee.

I apologize for the silly question but I am quite a noob. When the machine arrived this bolt was backed all the way out. What is it for?

My machine has a 5hp 3 phase motor conversion with vfd. What does this handle to? It isnt hooked up to anything so I am just wondering what functionally I lost.

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Ultradog MN]

Hello,

I just got a new lathe, my first lathe actually which is a 1942 (round dial) 10ee.

I apologize for the silly question but I am quite a noob. When the machine arrived this bolt was backed all the way out. What is it for?

My machine has a 5hp 3 phase motor conversion with vfd. What does this handle to? It isnt hooked up to anything so I am just wondering what functionally I lost.

Thanks in advance for the help!

The bolt that is backed out is for your carriage clamp. If you tighten it, it locks the carriage so it won't move.
Useful for say, a heavy facing cut where you don't want the pressure to back the carriage away from the spindle. It is pretty much a universal feature on all manual lathes.
Dunno what the other thing is. Don't have an EE.
Have fun with the new tool.

 

[Don's Engine]

That handle is to engage back gear - or switch gear ratios depending on how you want to phrase it. If your two speed box was taken out on the conversion, it won't hook to anything. The knob that comes off it is your variable speed control. If your setting speed directly on the VFD, this isn't hooked to anything either. Good luck with your new friend. Don

 

[marka12161]

I too have a new to me 1940s 10EE round dial and am just getting to know it. As this is your first lathe, I have some recommendations for you.

First, clean everything as best you can (I know, common sense).

Second, change all the oils. On my machine, i opened the headstock to look inside and found a paper towel in the bottom of the oild reservoir. It was below the gears train so it really had no adverse effect but still, it just feels wrong. When i first fired up my machine just to feel out the controls, the tachometer didn't work. I have no idea why and could speculate but without a detailed understanding of the design, i'll resist the urge.

Third, exercise all the features (speeds, feeds, apron direction etc.) and verify they work properly. On my machine i found the apron feed reverse/threading push/pull lever does not lock out the half nut closing mechanism. This could damage the half nuts if they were closed when feeding. I'll need to get into the apron to figure out what's going on. I suspect it's something simple like a missing or broken pin somewhere but it could cause more serious damage if not corrected.

Enjoy. Even at 80+ years old, these are great machines.

 

[Don's Engine]

And don't trust the sight glasses til you know they really van be seen through.

 

[EverydayDiesel]

I too have a new to me 1940s 10EE round dial and am just getting to know it. As this is your first lathe, I have some recommendations for you.

First, clean everything as best you can (I know, common sense).

Second, change all the oils. On my machine, i opened the headstock to look inside and found a paper towel in the bottom of the oild reservoir. It was below the gears train so it really had no adverse effect but still, it just feels wrong. When i first fired up my machine just to feel out the controls, the tachometer didn't work. I have no idea why and could speculate but without a detailed understanding of the design, i'll resist the urge.

Third, exercise all the features (speeds, feeds, apron direction etc.) and verify they work properly. On my machine i found the apron feed reverse/threading push/pull lever does not lock out the half nut closing mechanism. This could damage the half nuts if they were closed when feeding. I'll need to get into the apron to figure out what's going on. I suspect it's something simple like a missing or broken pin somewhere but it could cause more serious damage if not corrected.

Enjoy. Even at 80+ years old, these are great machines.

What kind of oil do I run? Is there somewhere I can get the capacities of this machine?

 

[marka12161]

If you are going to own vintage machinery of any type, it's worth learning a bit about the various viscosity systems and how they relate to each other. The old machine manuals specify oils in different viscosity systems and in some (many) cases, modern oil producers use differnet systems. I use the chart to at the link below to decode the mess

Oil Viscosity Chart | Compare, Choose, and Substitute Industrial Oil based on Viscosity

Free resource for comparing, choosing, and substituting oil for your machine using the Oil Viscosity Chart and our Big List of Oils. Learn the basics of oil, grease, and other lubricants for the optimal machine performance.

oilviscositychart.com

For the round dial 10EEs, I think they specify SAE 20 in the gear boxes and ISO 32 for the spindle bearings. The square dials specify something that equates to ISO 68 for the gear boxes which, if you look at the chart is on the upper end of the SAE 20 band. Oil in small quantities is crazy expensive and since I have three lathes, two mills and a shaper, I buy oil 5 gallons at a time from Petroleum Service Company (petroleumservicecompany.com). Storage is a bit of a pain but for me it's worth it. I buy empty one gallon plastic jugs from Amazon and fill them up as they are easier to handle on a frequent basis.

Now to answer your question, I use Sunvis 946 in the 10EE headstock and feed/threading gearboxes. This is an ISO 46 turbine oil which is in the lower band of the SAE 20 range. I chose this mostly because i also use it in the gear boxes of my Reed Prentice Lathe and had a bunch left over. the 10EE probably used up 1/3 to 1/2 of a gallon. For the spindles, apron and tailstock i use Phillips Multi-way HD-32. This is an ISO 32 machine tool slide lubricant. I probably used a quart or two. I also use this for the spindle bearings on the Bridgeport and keep it in a oil can and apply it to all the way surfaces and other manual oiling points on all my machines as i'm using them.